We woke up to torrential rain and decided to make use of the morning by finding some waterproof trousers so at least in the afternoon we would not get completely soaked on our pelagics trip. As it happened, when we had purchased some trousers, the sun decided to come out and shine upon us. So, the rest of the morning we decided to take a short stroll up to the Garrison to see what we could find. Unfortunately, as time was against us, we did not find anything worth mentioning and boarded our vessel for the third and final pelagic trip of the weekend. This final trip was another attempt to see Wilsons Petrol with a cruise to five miles from shore and then drifing and chumming. As we left St Mary's we encountered a Bonxie and sighted a couple of Manx Shearwaters. As the evening drew on and we drifted aimlessly, we attracted two Arctic Skuas, a few Storm Petrols and a further Sooty Shearwater. Unfortunately, as the wind was very slight, the birds were few and far between and it was not long before we were making our way back to shore. Wilson Petrol and Pomarine Skua will have to remain on my unseen list for the time being.
Monday 20th August 2012
Our final morning on St Mary's involved a march round the Garrison and then onto the Airfield, the Church and back to the B&B. The woalk produced about 10 Pied Flycatchers, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, 4 Common Sandpipers, 2 Green Sandpipers, a Greenshank and a very confiding Wheatear.
The crossing back to the mainland proved to be very successful indeed with sighings of Bonxie, Arctic Skua, Storm Petrols, Manx Shearwaters and my very first Balearic Shearwater (hurrah, another bird that can be crossed off my unseen list and another lifer).
Tuesday 21st August 2012
After a restful nights sleep in our new accomodation, we ventured out with new optimism and decided to pay a visit to Gwennap Head to seawatch for the morning. The sea did not seem to produce that much except for the occasional Manx Shearwater and I therefore decided to go for a wander round the clifftops and left the Capt and my birder's wife to continue scanning the horizon. In my wanders I managed to come across a Whimbrel among the rocks and went back to inform the Capt who informed me that she had located a Balearic Shearwater in the passing birds. As we made our way back to the car to try and relocate the Whimbrel (who had disappeared), the heavens opened and blessed us with rain.mmmmmm!
For the rest of the day we explored the area, including Drift Reservoir (for an Osprey which we could not find) and Marazion (for a Spotted Crake, which was just too elusive for us) and Nanquidno Valley where we managed to score a lifer for the Capt in the form of a Chough (rubbish shot below).
Wednesday 22nd August 2012
Having been bitten by the sea watching bug, we thought we would try our fortunes at Pendeen. The group we had shared the pelagic trips with were there and for following hour or so, we managed to see a couple of Arctic Skuas, 6 Whimbrel and about 1000+ Manx Shearwaters.
In the afternoon we thought we would search for migrants down the Nanquidno Valley but were pretty much unsuccesful.
Thursday 23rd August 2012
Our last day,during which we made our way home via Hayle to see if we could find any waders. Unfortunately, we arrived the wrong side of the tide and only managed a group of Curlew. A further detour on the way back was to Prawle Point where we walked east for about 400 yards to observe good views of Cirl Bunting (another lifer for the Capt - who was just being greedy by now).
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